On Saturday, October 16th, ten islanders successfully concluded a six-month Mandarin Chinese language program. The online course was offered at no charge to the participants/students and was facilitated through Councilor Marina Kay of the San Pedro Town Council (SPTC). The courses were taught by the Feng Chia University of Taiwan.
The course started accepting applications in March of this year via the SPTC. 38 individuals applied and the meet-up sessions were supervised by Councilor Kay, who has the education portfolio. The language course was a challenge for many, and at the end of the six-month journey, only ten students finished the program. They learned Mandarin Chinese Level One, which teaches basic spoken phrases and vocabulary for everyday life. The importance of proper ‘tones’ in Mandarin, essential communication skills, and help in building confidence to communicate effectively with colleagues, and friends in Mandarin was emphasized. Some of the students shared that they found the course very interesting and challenging, but that the teachers were very helpful. Some of them said that this knowledge of Mandarin will help them if in the future if they decide to visit or study in Taiwan.
The successful candidates included Idolly Staines, Alyssa Halliday, Ashley Minott, Jarvin Velasquez, Marthalicia Vasquez, Emelyn Beltran, Ashly Zepeda, Daniela Hanna, Luis Muñoz, and Christian Lopez.
Councilor Kay said that the opportunity became available through her niece Solani Graniel, who studies at Feng Chia University. She thanked everyone for their commitment to learning Mandarin. Kay also thanked the teachers and tutors at the Taiwanese university, without whom the project would have not been possible.
The initiative generated a good amount of interest among the island population. The idea to offer the course once again is in the plans, but no dates have been confirmed as yet.
